Historical Foundations of Criminal Investigation

Europe’s Industrial Revolution (mid-18^{th}–19^{th} centuries)
- Massive rural-to-urban migration → overcrowded towns, poverty, and a measurable “crime wave.”
- Law-enforcement resources overwhelmed; new, sometimes ad-hoc, tactics appear.

Two distinct classes were employed by authorities:
- Hirelings – purely mercenary motives.
- Social climbers – betrayed criminal partners to improve personal status.
Concept encapsulated by the adage “set a thief to catch a thief.”

Managed a London brothel that doubled as headquarters for thieves.
Simultaneously served London authorities as an undercover operative while protecting/thriving off criminals.
Realized larger profits by brokering the return of stolen goods to victims/police than by fencing them.
Hanged eventually, exposing limits of unregulated thief-catcher model.

Watch of London (night-only patrol) → evolved into the Old Charleys.
- Origin dated to 1253; survived until 1829.
Residents paid parish constables directly → variable quality & corruption.

Henry Fielding (appointed magistrate, Westminster, 1748)
- Operated from Bow Street home/office; coordinated crime-fighting network.
- Built alliances with pawnbrokers (stolen-property lists, tip incentives).
Initiated selection of parish constables for proactive “tracker” duties.
By early 1750s the group earned nickname “Mr. Fielding’s People,” later Bow Street Runners.
- Compensation: percentage of court fines (“thief-taker” rewards), not salaries.
John Fielding (half-brother; blind) became co-magistrate; earned moniker “blind beak.”
Innovations & legacy
- Horse patrol (authorized 1760–1800) → permanent foot patrol.
- Distinctive red vests, blue jackets: forerunners of uniformed British police.
- Demonstrated value of investigative specialization inside policing.

Born Arras, France, 1775; delinquent youth, repeated imprisonments (~20 years).
1809: Surrendered, became prison informant (Bicêtre) for Paris police chief Jean Henry.
1811: Released; posed as escaped convict, infiltrated underworld.
Brigade de Sûreté formed to support him; Napoleon’s decree (Dec 1813) → Sûreté Nationale.
- Initial agents: 4; expanded to 28 by 1827; monitored 1,200 ex-convicts; executed 400–500 warrants annually.
- Arrests claimed (first 7 years): >4,000.
Methodological firsts
- Systematic undercover work, anthropometrics, ballistics, meticulous crime-scene preservation.
- Record cards with aliases, MO, physical descriptors → precursor to Bertillon system.
- Maintained small forensic laboratory.
Post-police career: Founded Le bureau des renseignements (private agency, 1833) employing ex-cons; eventually collapsed amid legal troubles (fraud, extortion).
Died May\ 11,\ 1857 (age 82).

Championed by Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel; officers nicknamed bobbies/peelers.
Features
- First paid, full-time English police (~1,000 uniformed).
- Strict recruitment standards (height, weight, literacy, moral character).
- Replaced ad hoc constables / Bow Street Runners (viewed as inefficient).
Detective Bureau added 1842 (kept low profile \approx35 years to avoid “French-style repression” fears).

Alphonse Bertillon (Paris Police) → Bertillonage
- Combined standard photography (“mug shot”) with 11–20 skeletal/physical measurements (e.g., ear shape, eye color) assumed constant after maturity.
Fingerprints
- Research by William J. Herschel & Henry Faulds (Asia, mid-1840s–1880s).
- Sir Francis Galton formalized uniqueness/permanence; Scotland Yard adopted 1901.

Origin site: 4 Whitehall Place; rear courtyard named Great Scotland Yard (once hosted Scottish royalty).
Early Roles: VIP protection, community patrols, HR, public affairs.
Plainclothes agents introduced 1842; public distrust (“spies”) softened after high-profile successes.
Celebrity detective: Inspector Charles Frederick Field (met Dickens; model for Inspector Bucket in Bleak House).
Scandal 1877 (detective heads indicted for betting conspiracy) → Howard Vincent’s reforms.
- Creation of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) 1878 – centralized, respected detective branch.
Milestones
- “Bloody Sunday” Nov\ 13,\ 1887: 2,000 officers dispersed Trafalgar Square protest (>{100} casualties).
- Headquarters moves: Victoria Embankment (“New Scotland Yard,” 1890) → current 20-story site near Parliament (1967).
Present-day stats: ~30,000 officers; jurisdiction 620\ mi^{2}; population 7.2 million.
CID fingerprint methods influenced FBI procedures.

First U.S. city forces:
- Boston 1837
- New York 1844
- Philadelphia 1854
By 1870s nearly all major cities had departments.
Socio-political catalysts: urban violence, religious/ethnic clashes, slavery debates; investigative work seen as politically risky and often favoring those who could pay.

County sheriffs filled gaps outside cities.
Texas Rangers (oldest state LE body)
- Call-to-arms by Stephen F. Austin 1823; formalized 1833; dissolved during Reconstruction then reinstated.
- Modern division (Texas DPS): 213 employees ( 150 commissioned Rangers, 63 support ); 3,445 investigations in 2013 → 1,781 felony & 177 misdemeanor arrests.

Allan Pinkerton pioneered private-sector investigation.
Innovations: first organized national structure (later emulated by FBI); rogues’ gallery (photos, MO, associates).
Foiled 1861 assassination plot against President-elect Lincoln (train route to inauguration).
Civil War: Pinkerton headed Union secret-service operations.
Later controversies: anti-union violence & espionage (e.g., Jay Gould railroad strike, 1905 Idaho governor case).
Labor-spying ruled unconstitutional 1937 → industrial division dissolved.

Act outlawed manufacture, transport, sale—not purchase/consumption—of alcohol.
Smuggling (bootlegging) & home brewing flourished; rival gangs fought for “speakeasy” control by 1924.
Widespread police corruption via bribes; enforcement under Treasury Department, not yet FBI.

Began as Justice Department’s Bureau of Investigation 1907; limited duties.
Scope expanded with interstate stolen-car laws.
J. Edgar Hoover appointed director 1924
- Purged corruption, depoliticized bureau.
- Raised hiring standards; reduced field offices/headcount.
Post-Hoover revelations (after 1972 death): covert files on politicians, activists, etc.
Today: one of many federal agencies setting benchmarks in investigative professionalism.